Which programming language should you learn?

Choose the language you want to learn based on your tech interest

Programming languages are evolving rapidly nowadays. As new programming languages and frameworks are stepping into the industry, each one of them has something new and unique for developers and learners to thrive on. If it turns out to be a successful language, developers put those languages into action and create innovative applications. After all, that’s what’s happening from past to present. Each programming language suits a category. For example, certain languages are specialized for web applications, game development, mobile applications, dynamic platforms, and many more!

In this guide, we’ll walk through some of the most important languages and their specializations. Based on your goals and interests, you could pick out the best ones.

The following are some of the languages making an industrial change:

Python
Javascript
Swift
Kotlin
C#
Java
PHP
Ruby
C
Processing
Julia

Python

Python is a fast-moving language. Are you interested in being a machine learning engineer or data scientist? Or maybe you want to develop websites fully or games? This is a perfect programming language to get started. It is the best programming language among all the languages on this list. Perhaps it is because it is fast, easy to learn as well as easy to deploy. This is widely used among scalable web applications and artificial intelligence applications. Moreover, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and many more giant applications are built using Python.

Even if you still don't know which language to choose, Python is the perfect choice for you.

I would highly recommend starting with Python if you're searching for the first programming language to learn.

Javascript

Personally, I am not a big fan of Javascript, but it's a really powerful language. Do you know why? A lot of mesmerizing Android and iOS applications are made through Javascript, using a framework called React-native.

Besides mobile apps, Javascript is used mostly for Websites. You can create a website fully with JS, using different frameworks that are supported on JS.

Mobile apps and web apps made by JS are very interactive and innovative. They are also intelligent in their way. NodeJS is a popular and growing run-time environment for JS. Organizations are loving the easy-to-use and handle features of NodeJS. It supports running server-side scripts through dynamic web page creation. This is the secret behind JS being user-friendly for both server-side and client-side users. It has a simple implementation feature, and the work behind the screen is exceptional. It is known as a long-existing and demanding language as well.

An interesting fact that is worth mentioning is that SpaceX used JS for their Dragon Flight, imagine where JS is going to be in near future!

Javascript is a great start-up language if you want to become a Web or Mobile App developer, and consists of excellent community support as well.

Highly recommended for beginners.

Swift

I started learning Swift immediately after Apple Launched it in 2014 targeting the future market, and today I create exceptional iOS applications. Indeed, I love my job as a Swift developer. iOS applications are popular as the field is growing wilder. As well, there is an increasing user turnover every year towards iOS applications. So, the demand for the application would also increase. Apple’s iPhone users have a great demand in the market. This has taken a significant place in the mobile market’s demand. Let us not forget that it is a product of Apple. Therefore, it has automatic memory management as well. Also, it is a high-level language with memory access capabilities and consists of high-level abstraction.

If you already know Javascript, you would love coding in the new framework called SwiftUI. Which is based on reactive programming.

Also, I would say to Apple fans, get-go with Swift. It will turn your life swiftly towards a life-changing point as well. The only disadvantage I would say is, that you need to move completely to Apple Ecosystem, which is known as really pricy.

Kotlin

I have many friends and colleagues who are Android developers. They started off targetting the market way back and today they are making remarks. Kotlin gained its popularity by building Google applications. It is known as the functional programming language scaling through different frameworks. For an intermediate to advanced programmer, Kotlin is undoubtedly a great choice. It is also interoperable with the Java language creating a great market for Kotlin developers.

If you are in love with Android application development, Kotlin will pave the way for you.

One extra note, Kotlin, and Swift have very similar syntax, so it's really easy to jump from one language to the other one.

Java

Do you want to create platform-independent applications? Well, Java is the best choice for it. Though it is an old language, it has survived in the market for decades. It is probably widely used in large enterprise applications since it is stable in the industry. There is an abundance of open-source libraries to make coding an easy task. It follows the Object Oriented paradigm and has the highest degree of platform independence. It is also known for its security building.

If you have an interest in getting a software development job role in a large organization, Java is a must-learn language.

Also, Java can help if you plan to become a Game Developer in the future.

If you're looking for the first language to learn, then I would not suggest starting with Java.

C#

C# is a language to excel for developing Web-based and Windows applications. Perhaps C# is widely used among backend developers. This is also turning into one of the most competitive programming languages in the world. This language is fully integrated with the .NET library. There is an ease of execution in handling and type safety in C#. It is a component-oriented and object-oriented language and supports a wide range of development applications. It has strict nature of code and consistency to maintain applications. C# supports interoperability and accesses codes of any .NET compliant language. The class inheritance is an excellent feature of C#.

C# is the best choice for a desktop applications developer. Besides that, it's worth mentioning that a lot of high graphics games are developed with C# and Unity.

PHP

Backend developers are very intelligent, and if you fall behind, catch up with PHP. PHP is a tough competitor among the fast-moving languages. Day by day, PHP developers are growing as well. Moreover, one of the strengths of programming languages is PHP. It is easy to learn and easy to code as well. It has a great debugging link with Xdebug. The community support is very handy and has a great ecosystem. This is an object-oriented programming language that is marking its footsteps in the market.

One of the perfect languages for backend developers would be PHP.

Ruby

Since Ruby is an open-source, free language, you can start studying it right away. Additionally, it is a cross-platform programming language, so it makes no difference if your machine runs Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. On your computer, Ruby code will be executable.

Ruby is especially popular among startups since it allows you to create full apps in a very short period of time with a small team of engineers, similar like Javascript.

C

The C language is known for developing embedded systems. Are you interested in innovating in embedded systems? The C language consists of amazing features as well. It is also a widely used and faster-executed language among embedded systems. It consists of a higher level of portability and efficiency. The level of abstraction is low, which makes it easy to handle system hardware effortlessly.

The C language is implemented as a subset of C++, which means it’s also easier to learn and use and is excellent for embedded systems.

Processing

Do you want to create code-based digital art? Whoa! Processing is one of the enormous languages to get it in the best way. It is a high-level programming language, handy for both artists and technology experts. It started back then with a target to support artists to attract non- programmers to promote visual art. The developers wanted it to be a sketchbook of art. Today, they are doing an amazing job of growing in the market. The essential part of the Processing language is that it is embedded in an integrated development environment. Many prominent artists took this program as a base for their art.

If you have a great interest in making visual art, Processing would be a wonderful opportunity for you.

Julia

Would you like to give it a go for numerical analysis and computational science? Wow! Julia would be the most appropriate choice. From the get-go, it was designed to be a high-performance language. It has an effective native code platform across multiple platforms as well. It has an interactive procedure and the ability to recreate reproducible environments. Then, Julia consists of pre-built libraries which are supported across multiple platforms. Another amazing feature is that it is open-source and MIT licensed as well. If you’re a deep lover of Julia, check out its source on GitHub.

Julia is an amazing choice for numerical analysis and computational science-related app developers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we learned the top programming languages based on their expertise. Each language has its unique specialization. We can choose the best programming language for our needs. Programming languages are diverse, and for every need, there is a language to represent it. To stay in the industry and grow, learning them has become a top priority. So, get started based on your interest and make the biggest impact on your target organization.

To mention, I tried to rank Python, and Javascript on the top, because I think these two languages are a must to know.

If you want to read more about the compensation of each programming language, then you should read this article.